To use various kinds of protective caps to protect food from being contaminated or dried out during storage is today common in the catering trade as well as in the home of private persons. Another reason to use such caps is to maintain the freshness of the food covered by the protective caps. The protective caps are available in different shapes and sizes, adapted to different receptacles in which the food can be kept, e.g. baking plates, roasting pans, pots, pans and the like. There are also protective caps adapted to fit receptacles of dimensions specified by the Gastronorm system which are commonly used throughout the catering trade.
These protective caps for protecting food are generally made of thin plastic foil with a resilient band attached to the foil. When the protective cap is placed over the opening of a food receptacle, the resilient band is stretched in order to fit the protective cap around the food receptacle.
The resilient band is generally sewn or stitched to the plastic foil. The sewing or stitching is a process that needs to be performed sequentially and is therefore time consuming. It does also incur costs related to the machinery needed for the sewing or stitching. The use of a sewing thread introduces a third material in addition to the plastic foil and the resilient band, which increase the overall cost of the protective cap.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,551 discloses a cap for beverage containers that prevents foreign substances from entering an opening of the beverage container. The cap comprises at least one flexible non-wetting sheet with an outer surface, an inner surface and an edge portion located at the outer periphery. The cap also has a skirt portion located adjacent to and within the edge portion. An elastic portion capable of dilating is located adjacent to and within the skirt portion. The inner surface of the flexible non-wetting sheet covers the opening of the beverage container when in use.
The elastic portion is created by securing an elastic cord to the flexible sheet by, for example, using an adhesive. The use of an adhesive for securing the cord to the elastic sheet is also a time consuming method requiring substantial machinery.